Two California Election Law Bills Pass Assembly

May 29th, 2009

On May 28, the California Assembly passed AB 909, and AB 6. AB 909 provides that polling place officials must tell independent voters that they are free, at any partisan primary, to choose the primary ballot of the Republican Party, or the Democratic Party, or the American Independent Party (the other 3 qualified parties, Libertarian, Green, and Peace & Freedom, do not permit independents to vote in their primaries; and the Republican Party allows independents to vote for everything except president).

AB 6 says that anyone who pays people to circulate a petition must register with the Secretary of State, and must train his or her employees. This bill is far more benevolent now than when it was first introduced. When it was first introduced, it said that all paid circulators must register as lobbyists. However, that original content was removed.



California IRV Bill Advances

May 28th, 2009

On May 28, the California Assembly Appropriations Committee passed AB 1121, which lets 10 non-charter cities or counties use Instant Runoff Voting for their own elections.

Illinois Legislature Passes Bill Making it More Difficult for Qualified Parties to Nominate

May 28th, 2009

On May 28, the Illinois legislature passed HB 723, which makes it more difficult for qualified parties to nominate candidates after the primary is over. The old law let qualified parties nominate by committee meeting after the primary, if no one had run for that party in the primary. The bill says that candidates nominated after the primary must submit a petition with the same number of signatures that would have been needed if that candidate had sought a place on the primary ballot. The logic for such a petition is missing. The purpose of the petition to obtain a place on a primary ballot is to keep the primary ballot from being too crowded, but there is no rational reason for a petition for a candidate nominated at a party meeting. The party itself has already shown a modicum of support by having polled at least 5% of the vote in the preceding election.

This bill has no effect for political parties that are not ballot-qualified. The only parties that are currently qualified statewide in Illinois are the Democratic, Republican and Green Parties.

New Mexico Ballot Access Case Gets Publicity

May 28th, 2009

On May 28, the Associated Press issued a news story about the ballot access lawsuit filed on May 7 by the New Mexico Libertarian and Green Parties. Thanks to Brent McMillan for the link.

Free & Equal Asks Terry McAuliffe to Account for Anti-Ballot Access Actions in 2004

May 28th, 2009

Terry McAuliffe, former national chair of the Democratic National Committee, is the leading candidate for the Virginia Democratic Party’s gubernatorial nomination this year. The primary is in June 2009. Free & Equal has just released a press release, pointing out that whereas this year McAuliffe is saying good things about election participation, in 2004 he spent millions of dollars to physically prevent voters from voting for Ralph Nader. Thanks to Independent Political Report for the news. FURTHER UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times has this, and The Nation is now featuring the story here. UPDATE: a Washington Post blog has picked up the story; see here, and here is a Post news story.

Nevada Bill to Hamper Initiatives is Probably Dead

May 28th, 2009

Nevada SB 212, a bill that would require statewide initiative petitions to get a substantial number of signatures from every one of Nevada’s 42 Assembly districts, is probably dead. It has not moved. It had been set for a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee on May 27, but that hearing was cancelled. The legislature adjourns on June 1.

Bill to Shrink Maine House May Get House Vote This Week

May 28th, 2009

The Maine House will probably vote on LD 144 on May 28 or May 29. This is the bill to shrink House membership from 151 members to 131 members. As a proposed Constitutional change, it needs two-thirds support in each house. However, in a preliminary vote earlier in May, the bill received overwhelming support in the House. The Maine legislature meets until June 17.

National Popular Vote Bill Can’t Pass This Year in Nevada

May 28th, 2009

The Nevada National Popular Vote Plan bill, AB 413, cannot become law this year. Although it passed the Assembly on April 21, and has never been defeated in the Senate, it didn’t move through any Senate committee fast enough to meet the legislative deadlines.

Another Illinois Newspaper Slams Legislature for Keeping Primary in February

May 28th, 2009

The May 28 issue of the Lake Forester (the daily newspaper of Lake Forest, Illinois) has this editorial, criticizing the legislature for retaining the state’s primary in February.

No state has ever had its congressional primary that early in a mid-term year. Illinois SB 46, co-sponsored this year by eight State Senators, would have moved the 2010 primary to June, but it failed to make any progress, and the legislature is close to adjournment.

Louisiana Committee Hearing on Primaries for Small Qualified Parties Can Be Viewed On-Line

May 27th, 2009

On May 27, as noted below, the Louisiana Committee on House and Governmental Affairs heard an hour’s testimony about HB 776, the bill to eliminate congressional primaries for small qualified parties. As noted below, the bill was defeated after two Louisiana Libertarians, and one Louisiana Green, and members of the NAACP and College Republicans testified against the bill. This interesting hearing can be watched by using this link. Scroll down to “May 27″ and “House & Gov.” HB 776 is the second bill. The discussion of the first bill takes the first 30 minutes, so if you only wish to hear the testimony on HB 776, skip the first 30 minutes.

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Welcome to the OFFICIAL online home of Ballot Access News, a non-partisan newsletter reporting on the trials and tribulations of folks trying to put candidates on the ballot in the United States of America. There are many surprisingly restrictive ballot access laws in this country, which the average voter has no knowledge or conception of; part of our purpose here (besides reporting on progress made) is to report on these restrictive ballot access laws so that more people are aware of them. I hope you find these materials interesting and exciting; if you do, you can support the newsletter by subscribing!

Ballot Access News is edited and published by Richard Winger, the nation's leading expert on ballot access legal issues.

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  • Politics, Soviet-style by S. Philip Gordon, regarding recent ballot access issues in Georgia – the US state, not the Russian territority!

Extra Features:

Other information:

  • Here's how to subscribe to Ballot Access News!

  • Here's information on Presidential Ballot Access as well as the vote totals of recent Presidential elections.

  • Here are some other sites which may also be of interest:

    Project Vote-Smart

    Project Vote Smart is a citizens' organization dedicated to serving all Americans with accurate and unbiased information for electoral decision-making. It was inaugerated in 1992 by former US Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and other leaders. Its webpage offers information about all ballot-listed candidates for all federal and state office.
    [Added:040729]

    The ACE Project
    An interesting site concerning itself with the "Administration and Cost of Elections", including issues of fairness and regulatory approaches in various countries. They seem to be almost blind to the ways that third parties in the USA are harmed by campaign finance rules crafted for the problems characteristic of the larger parties, or the ways that third parties would be disenfranchised by various proposed rules, but this is nevertheless a useful resource, particularly for the international comparisons it makes.
    [Added:001206]

    "Unofficial" B.A.N. Page

    At first, it looks like there's not much here. But then you follow the "Charts" link, and click on one of the listed candidates, and you'll get some truly wonderful nationwide maps of voting patterns.
    [Checked:991014]

    ThirdPartyNews.net

    A site that covers news about minor parties.
    [Checked:060414]

    Third Party Central

    Collects lots of good information and links relating to various third parties into one convenient location. Nice set of writings on why one should vote third-party.
    [Checked:991014]

    Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

    A surprisingly complete listing of votes cast in Presidential elections, including numerous third-party candidates and nice maps of vote distribution by state and (on the individual state pages) by county.
    [New-URL:010309]

    D.C.'s Political Report

    Very good presentation of candidate and party information, including virtually every known third-party group in the USA. Election results, candidate information, etc.
    [Updated:991214]

    Initiative For Texas

    A group trying to establish the right to Initiative and Referendum in Texas. Their work has intriguing parallels and overlaps with ballot access work. Every page at the site seems to have some music on it, which can get annoying after awhile, but otherwise it's an interesting site.
    [Checked:991014]

    Center for Voting and Democracy

    Folks concerned with alternative voting systems, and related issues, from a moderately leftist perspective. Useful articles describing how better systems of voting and electing actually work.
    [Added:000823]

The newsletter is published by and copyright by Richard Winger.